On Monday, November 5, the Unity College Board of Trustees unanimously voted to divest the College endowment from fossil fuels, emphasizing the College’s commitment to sustainability. In conjunction with the 350.org program of divestment, Unity College is now the first to take this stand, and on November 13, President Mulkey will be featured on the stage with Bill McKibben at the State Theater in Portland as part of the Do the Math tour. You can read more about the event at http://sustainabilitymonitor.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/do-the-math-nov-13/.

The following editorial is President Mulkey’s statement to the public about this important step:

Time for higher education to take a stand on climate.

We are running out of time. While our public policy makers equivocate and avoid the topic of climate change, the window of opportunity for salvaging a livable planet for our children and grandchildren is rapidly closing.

The way forward is clear, though for many confrontation-averse academics the path seems impassable. It requires action that is unnatural to the scientifically initiated: to fight to regain the territory illegitimately occupied by the climate change deniers.

Every day that we avoid taking action represents additional emissions, and additional infrastructure that is dependent on our fossil fuel based economy. In our zeal to be collegial, we engage with those who are paid by vested interests to argue that our Earth is not in crisis. When these individuals demonize public investment in alternative energy, we fail to point out how the oil industry benefited from significant taxpayer support in its infancy and continues to receive government subsidies today. We also sidestep the thorny issue of how oil and coal, in particular, fund large-scale organized opposition efforts to deny legitimate science, winning the battle for climate change public opinion with slogans, junk science, and money.

While there is much uncertainty about how climate change will play out with respect to specific regions and weather patterns, one thing is very clear: Our current emissions trajectory will carry us beyond 5oC average global warming by 2100. This will be a planet that is not consistent with our civilization and the impact will be largely irreversible for a millennium. I don’t know how the stakes could get any higher.

Higher education is positioned to determine the future by training a generation of problem solvers. As educators, we have an obligation to do so. Unlike any time in the history of higher education, we must now produce leading-edge professionals who are able to integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines, and understand social, economic, and resource tradeoffs among possible solutions. Imagine being a college president and looking in the mirror twenty years from now. What would you see? Would you be looking at a professional who did his or her best to avert catastrophe? For me, the alternative is unacceptable.

Those within higher education must now do something they have largely avoided at all costs: confront the policy makers who refuse to accept scientific reality. We must be willing to lead by example. Like the colleges and universities of the 1980s that disinvested from apartheid South African interests – and successfully pressured the South African government to dismantle the apartheid system – we must be willing to exclude fossil fuels from our investment portfolios. We must divest.

The colleges and universities of this nation have billions invested in fossil fuels. Like the funding of public campaigns to deny climate change, such investments are fundamentally unethical. The Terrifying Math of the 350.org campaign is based on realistic, reviewed science. Moreover, in our country it is clear that economic pressure gets results where other means fail. If we are to honor our commitment to the future, divestment is not optional. This is especially true for Unity College, where Sustainability Science, as developed by the U.S. National Academy of Science, guides our academic mission.

I am honored and proud to be a part of the 350.org program of divestment, and I am especially proud of the Unity College Board of Trustees. Indeed, the College has been on this path for over five years. The Trustees have looked at the College’s finances in the context of our ethical obligation to our students, and they have chosen to make a stand. I can think of no stronger statement about the mission of Unity College.

Our college community will lead by fearless action. We will confront policy makers who continue to deny the existence of climate change. We will encourage those who work in higher education to bravely step out from behind manicured, taxpayer funded hedges, and do what needs to be done. We will not equivocate, and we will meet those who have been misled by climate change denial in their communities.

The time is long overdue for all investors to take a hard look at the consequences of supporting an industry that persists in destructive practices. Because of its infrastructure and enormous economic clout, fossil fuel corporations could pump trillions into the development of alternative energy. Government subsidies and stockholder shares could be used constructively to move these corporations to behave responsibly.

Higher education is the crown jewel of the United States system of education, and it remains the envy of the world. Higher education has always been dedicated to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. If our nation’s colleges and universities will not take a stand now, who will?

You may wonder, how is Unity College doing this?

This is an excellent question. Unlike the times of apartheid, the markets are complex and there are fund managers in between the investor and the market.

First, we are certain that we will have zero direct investment in fossil fuels. Period. Secondly, we operate the relevant part of our endowment through ETFs, and it is quite possible to bias these away from certain sectors. Our investment firm is very comfortable with this approach, and we have worked through the details with them. While we cannot guarantee absolute zero at any given time, we can promise with great comfort that we will seek this zero point and never rise above a negligible value summed over any given year. Any very small return on this part can then be folded into our sustainability revolving fund.

I recommend this approach for other institutions, and several are having this discussion. If enough colleges and universities take this approach, it will do serious damage to an industry that has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not care about the future of this planet. Note that energy is between 30 and 40% of the overall market, and thus it is likely that many institutions have millions invested in fossil fuels. For large institutions with home-managed endowments, the removal of the direct investment component will have a major impact. At the same time this approach will supply some minor funds for reducing the institutional carbon footprint, thus further limiting the leverage of this industry.

The good news with respect to fiscal responsibility for the College is that our estimates show that divesting is consistent with maintaining a return that will continue to beat the market averages under current prices. Thus, we feel like this is a win-win approach for the College and for the planet. When fossil fuel prices rise, which they will, we should then loudly reject the notion that a divested portfolio is “underperforming.”